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Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Last week, in writing about the top social media influencers I was struck by the sheer scale of connectivity that leading influencers create for themselves. Chris Brogan for example has an astonishing 122,000 identifiable followers on Twitter (up from 115,000 last week) and strong followings on LinkedIn,Facebook, and Google + where he has almost 67,000 followers. 60,000 people subscribe to Mari Smith's public updates on Facebook, along with approximately 77,000 identifiable people who follow her on Twitter.

Two things are remarkable about the numbers.

The first is the scale. Chris Brogan has a pull or reach that is over 3,000 times more powerful than that of the average Twitter user. Mari's reach (or social pull) is 1800 times greater than the average Twitter user's.

The second is the fact that we can identify those 122,000 people through tools like PeekYou analytics. In building a web of identifiable people we're also moving the point of connection in business from the corporation to the person and creating more opportunities for a more individual form of captialism where the person, the networked power of the individual, is the new capital (for a discussion of numbers see Why Numbers Matter).

To get a better handle on that I asked three of the social media power influencers about their network building and what it means to their businesses to have strong social media influence.

Jason is exceptional in having a very large average network size (13,000). That means the average network size of each of his followers is 13,000. Mari - with a much larger following - has an average network size of 11,000. Pam Moore with an identifiable following of around 41,000 has a reach, or social pull, approaching 1600, that is 1600 times the average Twitter user.

Q: I wanted to know when they decided that this was a goal for them - to grow a powerful network:

Jason Falls

My focus on networking for business purposes began in earnest in late 2005 and early 2006. I was transitioning out of a niche area of public relations into mainstream marketing and PR, and social media was beginning to percolate as a subject in the broad marketing world. I'd used social media (blogging and social network platforms in particular) for personal reasons for a long time and knew my way around.

As I began to add professional contacts in the mainstream world, my network began to grow. It wasn't until late 2007, early 2008, however, that I started speaking at conferences and focusing my networking on influencers. That's when I went from 1,000 social contacts to 5K, 10K, etc. At BlogWorld & New Media Expo in the fall of 2007, I decided to target the power players, get introduced, ensure they knew who I was and I was working with brands and knew a thing or two. Every bit of my networking since has been targeted and purposeful.

Mari Smith

I joined Twitter in September 2007; I was already active on Facebook about four months prior to that. At the time, I was running my business fulltime from the road, traveling the U.S. in an RV. I would share all manner of photos from my various travels and my network began to grow from there -- people would tune in to find out which city I was in and what activities I was enjoying. I kept my growth milestones moderate at first, growing to my first 1,000 followers, then 2,000 and so on. I was never aggressive in pursuing followers, but I was proactive.

Q: I asked what are they are most focused on?

Pam Moore:

I don’t like to focus on one network over the other. Instead I like to focus on an integrated strategy that leverages content to connect with audiences with a goal of meeting both life and business objectives.

How I use each of the following:

Blog: Provide the best possible content I can to inspire and connect with target audiences.

Twitter: Enables me to reach a large network of folks who enjoy and share my content with their friends. Also enables me to build communities that are taken offline and on to other social networks for further nurturing.

LinkedIn: Where people validate what I do, what I have done and who I am.

Facebook: Enables me to more intimately connect with people via my personal Facebook page, business page and private groups.

YouTube: Similar to my blog but in video format. It was a key success contributor while in startup mode.

Google+: Similar to all of the above but enables me to connect with my most favorite, geeky friends.

I get the highest number of qualified leads from LinkedIn. However, I have also received hot leads via Twitter DM and Facebook messages. I have been a member of LinkedIn for many years. I have a network size of 1700+ and know most all of the people I am connected to. I have over 50 recommendations from current and past colleagues and clients. The growth of this network has been 100% organic and a spill over from past employers, other social networks and life!

TweetChats: I host #GetRealChat on Tuesday 9pm ET. We average 12-18 million impressions for a single TweetChat. The community has grown substantially since January. We have had many guests including AT&T, Argyle Software, Klout, Webtrends, Kred, EmpireAvenue and many more. It enables me to connect with brands as well as give back to the community who has helped me. I have seen people join the tweet chat not knowing how to do a retweet. Many of these same people are now leading communities, quitting their corporate gigs to pursue a life of their dreams.